Send me a number and a pairing, and I'll write a ficlet!
by Batwings79
Summary: This story will become a collection of Downton Abbey ficlets based on a list of 50 one-line prompts that was first published on Tumblr. The ficlets will revolve around many different characters and pairings, based on requests received. Most of the ficlets will likely be rated K T and I will include a warning in the opening Author's Notes if the rating is higher.
1. For Misszenobell

**A/N: The chapters contained herein were written in response to the following post on Tumblr - Send me a number and a paring, and I'll write a ficlet!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to misszenobell on Tumblr who requested a Chelsie Ficlet based on Prompts 15 and 29 - I've used bold text below to indicate the prompts**

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They were passing the doors to the library when she felt the light pressure of his hand upon her forearm. Turning to look over her shoulder she found her husband crouching slightly; his beetled brows drawn into a deep frown as he appeared to be listening for something. And then she heard it, the high-pitched sound of a child's giggle followed quickly by the rustling of fabric and the soft shuffling sounds of small shoes across the carpet.

 **"Shhh! They'll hear us!"**

Brows raising in tufted arcs above his twinkling eyes, he held a finger to his own lips and motioned for her to follow him into the room.

"I'm at my wit's end, Mrs. Hughes!" he exclaimed, pausing in front of the red sofa to glance surreptitiously around the room. "We've searched this house from top to bottom and the children are nowhere to be found!"

"Aye, it's as if they've disappeared with the faeries," she agreed solemnly, trying her best to keep the laughter out of her voice.

A small sudden sneeze drew their attention to the tall line of windows that occupied most of the outer wall of the library. Amusement crinkled the skin at the corner of her eyes as she inclined her head towards the carpet at the far end of the room where the toes of three small pairs of shiny patent leather shoes poked out from beneath the deep hem of the velvet curtains.

He smiled warmly at her before pulling himself up to his full height and allowing the inscrutable mask of Downton's butler to smooth his features. "You don't really think they've been taken by the faeries? Do you, Mrs. Hughes?"

His deep baritone rumble never failed to send a tingle down her spine. Shaking her head as if to ward off any untoward thoughts, she schooled her own features before responding.

"I don't know what else it could be, Mr. Carson. You and I both know this house like the back of our hands and we've searched every nook and cranny!"

"What will we do?" he exclaimed forlornly. "How can we rescue them?"

"Well, the faeries usually only take things in trade," she replied with a slight thickening of her brogue. "It's odd that they didn't leave any changelings in their place."

"It is?" he blurted in genuine surprise.

"Aye, 'tis true," she hummed to herself. "Perhaps they took the children hoping to barter for a bigger prize." She almost laughed aloud at the look of alarm that passed across his face. "I have it on good authority from Mrs. Wigan that the women of the village are partial to a certain tall, dark and handsome butler. Perhaps Mrs. Wigah…I mean the Faerie Queen would take him in trade for the children?"

"Oh, I couldn't! **Anything but that!** " he exclaimed in horror as the velvet curtains began to rustle.

"But you must, their parents will be heartbroken if we don't get them back in time for supper!"

"No! We're here, we're here!" came a cacophony of children's voices as a tangled ball of arms and legs tumbled from behind the velvet curtains to land at the butler's feet. Miss Sybbie was the first to rise, hands on her hips as she stared up at him.

"You can't go, Carson," she said very matter of factly.

"I can't?"

"Who would serve afternoon tea?"

Bowing his head deferentially, he glanced over to see his wife struggling to keep the grin from her face.

"I was rather hoping someone would miss me…" he paused when Elsie rolled her eyes at him. "The important thing is that everyone is safe and sound." He felt a tugging on his coattails and looked down to find a pair of warm brown doe eyes looking up at him. The little girl with the blonde curls tugged on his coat again and he leaned down to listen as she spoke softly in his ear.

"I miss you." She ducked her head shyly and returned her thumb to her mouth before bumping her shoulder against his leg affectionately.

"I would miss you too, Miss Marigold," he rumbled softly and ruffled the curls on the back of her head with his large fingers. Careful not to startle the little girl, he raised back up to his full height before moving towards the door. "Shall we go and see what Mrs. Patmore has for our afternoon tea?"

Sybbie and George shrieked in delight as they jostled each other going out the door. Marigold's exit was more subdued but she wasted no time catching up with the others before the heading down the servant's stairs to the kitchen.

Charles and Elsie followed calmly in the children's wake.

"So, Mrs. Wigan is the Faerie Queen?" he asked casually.

"She'd like to think she is," Elsie replied with a derisive snort.

"Perhaps I should stop by the post office and she what she has to offer?"

"You'll do nothing of the kind, Charles Carson!" she exclaimed and then slapped him on the arm when he began to laugh. "Oh, you!"

"There's only one fae beauty that I want to barter with," he rumbled softly in her ear, enjoying the shiver that moved through her beneath his touch. "Perhaps we could come to some agreement later this evening?"

Stretching up she kissed his cheek and then whispered in his ear, "Aye, that may depend on what you have to trade."


	2. For CSotA I

_**A/N: Send me a number and a pairing, and I'll write a ficlet!**_

 _ **This chapter is dedicated to CSotA on Tumblr (Chelsiesouloftheabbey here on FFnet) who requested a Chelsie Ficlet based on Prompts 4, 16 and 49 - I've used bold text below to indicate the prompts**_

 _ **It wasn't my intention to use multiple prompts in a story but the ones selected for these first two chapters just seemed to flow together. I hope you enjoy where they took me!**_

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Elsie felt the strangest sensation of floating through the darkness; as if being rocked back and forth in a cocoon. She could hear birds singing nearby and someone was calling her name.

"Elsie? Elsie, can you hear me?"

She struggled against the morass that seemed to be pulling deeper into the darkness.

"Elsie?...Elsie?"

Her eyelids began to flutter but all she could see were stars burning pinpoints of light through her eyelids. She tried to turn away from whatever it was that was pushing at the top of her forehead but felt her bonds pull tighten around her. With Herculean effort she was finally able to raise her head and focus her vision through the blinding light. The two blurry images of her husband coalesced into one and she was surprised to see the worried look in his hazel eyes.

"Thank goodness!" Charles exclaimed in relief. "Are you alright?"

Looking around them she discovered her husband was seated on the ground in their back garden and she was half-lying across his lap with his arms around her.

 **"Will you just hold still?"**

Elsie had begun to squirm under his ministrations and batted his hand away where he dabbed forehead with his handkerchief. "That hurts, Charlie."

"You hit your head on that tree root and I just want to see…" His voice trailed off as he gently pushed the hair back off her forehead and moved his face closer to hers to peer down at her. **"It doesn't look like you'll need stitches,"** he replied and kissed the small cut on her forehead. "Better?"

Not knowing if it was better or not, she started to ask what had happened when she saw it. Lying on its side in the grass a few feet away; and everything came flooding back to her.

It was her half-day and she'd hurried home from the Abbey, excited at the prospect of spending the afternoon working side by side with her husband in their new garden. The gardener had recently divided several of the climbing roses in the Abbey gardens and had gifted the Carson's with a brilliant pink one for the trellis beside their kitchen door.

Not finding him when let herself into their cottage, she hung her good coat and hat on the peg beside the front door and grabbed up her apron and straw hat from the peg beside the kitchen door before sailing out into the back garden with a huge smile on her face.

Her smile quickly turned to a look of confusion as watched her husband perched atop the one-wheeled contraption tossing three bright yellow balls into the air.

"What in the world?!"

She saw his head jerk towards her and watched as he began to wobble; forward and back, and then from side to side. Afraid that he would fall and injure himself, she dropped her apron and began to run towards him. Hands outstretched to try and catch him, her foot caught on something hidden in the grass that launched her head-long through the air. She felt the jarring impact through her arms and shoulders just before everything went dark.

The sound of his voice brought her back to the present. She arched an eyebrow at him in surprise and replied, **"I didn't know you could do that."**

"Do what?"

"That!" Elsie nodded towards the unicycle lying on its side; three large lemons scattered higgledy piggledy among the spokes. She watched as the blush spread quickly across his face, turning the tips of his ears bright pink.

"Ah, yes… _that_ …" he replied in measured tones. Carefully setting her away from him, he turned on to his hands and knees before stiffly pushing himself up from the ground. He bent and dusted the legs of his trousers then reached out his hands to help her to her feet.

"You remember Charlie Grigg?" he asked as he brushed the dust from the back of her skirt.

"Of course, how could I forget?" she shuddered slightly, remembering the tense atmosphere that developed in her relationship with Charles as a result.

"It was becoming harder to book the Cheerful Charlies into the halls and Grigg came up with the bright idea of joining the circus one summer!"

Elsie clapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle a whoop of laughter. "Oh my," she finished demurely, dropping her head slightly in apology. "Did you learn to walk the tightrope too?" she ventured with a teasing note in her voice.

Tugging on his waistcoat he pulled himself up to his full height and looked down his aquiline nose at her. He thought she looked beautiful, her cheek dimpling as she tried to hide the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Eyes twinkling, he adopted a dignified pose and replied, "I did. And I can juggle fire batons while doing it!"

They both dissolved into laughter and he pulled her to him to place a kiss on her forehead. Elsie grimaced and reached up to gingerly touch the knot that had formed at her hairline.

"I think you're going to have a doozy of bruise in the morning. Come inside and I'll make us a cup of tea," he offered, leaning over to pick up the abandoned unicycle and the lemons.

"What were you doing with that thing in the first place?"

"I found it in the attic gathering dust. I thought the children might play with it when they come to visit." He looked up to find her lips pursed and one eyebrow arched skeptically in his direction. "I did!" he exclaimed vehemently before softening his expression with a rueful chuckle. "Then the memories started coming back and I wondered if I still had the knack."

"You seemed to be doing fine until I distracted you." This time it was his eyebrow arching skeptically and she laughed and nodded her head. "Perhaps it is best left for the children to play with. Come along, we'll use these in the tea," she said, taking the lemons from him before turning towards the cottage. "You can regale me with tales of your days with the circus!"

"Hmmm…" he grumbled quietly as they walked arm in arm towards the cottage.


End file.
